"Music" is the third cat I've had the pleasure of sharing my life with. Just like his predecessors, he has soft black and white fur that sheds all over the place. And, like his predecessors, he is fastidious about grooming himself. So, unfortunately, this is the third cat I've owned that has problems with hairballs. It's really upsetting, on several levels, to watch as he coughs and throws up these nasty messes of fur. Of course I don't want my pet to feel lousy and have to go through this trauma. And, I also don't like to have to clean up the messes.

When we went through this with cat #1, our vet told us to try Hartz Health Measures Hairball Remedy. So, we've been using this product for years, with three different cats, with reasonable success.

What is it?

This product comes in a three oz. tube. It is a thick, sticky, dark brown paste-like substance. It contains emulsion of malt extract, petrolatum, and natural salmon flavor. It also contains some vitamins. From what I can understand, this mixture acts as a laxative, helping the animal to pass the accumulated hair when they have bowel movements. The more hair that gets eliminated in that fashion, means less hair stuck in their gastrointestinal tracts, thus fewer symptoms from the hairballs.

How do you use it?

Well, the medicine is only useful if you can get your cat to eat it, right? Perhaps some cats actually like the taste and will eat it willingly. But not mine. So I have to use his own in-bred need of grooming against him. I squeeze out a 1" strip onto my finger. Then, with my hand hidden behind my back, I approach Music and say very softly, "there's nothing behind my back, I promise, I just want to pet you for a minute". Lulled into a false sense of security, he lets me approach. Then, lightning quick, I grab one of his front paws, and shmush (highly technical term, not sure why the spell-checker doesn't like it) the paste right into his fur. I have learned not to merely place the paste on his paw. Because, once released, that paw will be shaking lightning fast as he tries to dislodge it. Yup, if I don't do a good job shmushing, that medicine is ending up on my walls, my tiles, my furniture, wherever Music manages to fling it. So I've learned to really press it down into his fur. He will still give it a few shakes, but then, with what I know is a sneer in my direction, he will reluctantly do what cats are born to do. Groom himself to get that sticky stuff off his paw. Thus, his breeding works against him. He can't simply leave the "dirt" on his paw. Luckily, he's not smart enough to just dunk his paw into his water bowl, or into the pool. So he licks it off, and gets his dosage.

Speaking of dosage, the directions say that adult cats and rabbits can have 1" of this stuff daily until their symptoms disappear. Then give it to them once or twice a week, as a preventative measure. The dosage is half that, for kitties and baby rabbits over four weeks old.

Results?

I never use this stuff as a "preventative". I probably should, but I don't. I know Music doesn't like the taste (and neither did his predecessors). Plus, I'm a bit lazy. If he liked the taste, and would simply lick it off my finger, or eat it out of his food bowl, I would definitely use this product more regularly. But, he doesn't, so I don't. So, in the end, I keep this stuff on hand for use after the fact. When Music tosses up a wad, I give him the medicine every day for a few days. It definitely seems to help him, as the symptoms usually go away pretty quickly. Then, he might not have another episode for months.

Overall, I think this is a good product, that definitely seems to help. I wish the taste were more palatable, since three out of three of my cats hated it. It also has an odor that's pretty strong, and not too pleasant. But it's inexpensive, available all over the place (pet stores, grocery stores, large retail stores), and most importantly, seems to work.

Recommended: Yes